Ski bracket or the like



Jan. 14, 1969 E, GLASS SKI BRACKET OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 5. 1967INVENTOR .DflV/O 5. 42,455 ,W 42 a M ATTORNEY United States Patent 11Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention contemplates a hookedbracket designed to hold a pair of skis in position, face-tO-face, closeto a wall or other vertical support. The device takes advantage of thenatural inclination of skis standing close against a wall to fall awayfrom the wall, by gravitational pull, if

angled slightly away from the wall at the top. An auxili- I ary hook isprovided for hanging ski poles, parka, gloves or other gear from thesame bracket, in non-fouling re lation with the pair of retained skis,and without requiring additional wall space beyond that desirablyprovided for the basic ski-hook feature alone.

My invention relates to a mounting bracket construction particularlyadapted to removably hold elongated articles, such as skis, in uprightposition against a wall or other vertical reference.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved device of thecharacter indicated.

A specific object is to provide a ski-retaining device of elementalsimplicity, lending itself to the orderly, compact and removableretention of skis and associated gear.

A general object is to meet the foregoing objects with a device which isinexpensive to manufacture and efficient in its accommodation of skis ofvarious sizes, and which involves a minimum number of parts, none ofwhich is movable.

Other objects and various further features of novelty and invention willbe pointed out or will occur to those skilled in the art from a readingof the following specifi cation in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. In said drawings, which show, for illustrative purposes only,a preferred form of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation showing a wall to which a pluralityof brackets of the invention have been mounted;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of the bracket construction ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a bracket of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the device shown in FIG. 3.

Briefly stated, the invention contemplates a hooked bracket designed tohold a pair of skis in position, faceto-face, close to a wall or othervertical support. The device takes advantage of the natural inclinationof skis standing close against a wall to fall away from the wall, bygravitational pull, if angled slightly away from the wall at the top. Anauxiliary hook is provided for hanging ski poles, parka, gloves or othergear from the same bracket, in non-fouling relation with the pair ofretained skis, and without requiring additional wall space beyond thatdesirably provided for the basic ski-hook feature alone.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the invention is shown in anapplication to a plurality of unithandling ski hooks or brackets of theinvention secured in laterally spaced relation to a single mountingboard or panel 11 forming part of an upright wall 12 against whichplural pairs of skis 13-14 are removably retained. The bottoms of theskis rest on a shelf or floor member 15, and each pair of skis is shownin bottom-tobottom abutment, as is customary in the handling of matchedskis. The elevation of the mounting 11 for brackets 10 is shown at aheight above member 15 to permit accommodation of upper ends of avariety of ski sizes, such as the longer skis 13 and the shorter skis14, being in both instances intermediate the boot-harness and curved-tiplocations of the skis.

My hook or bracket structure 10 may be described as rigid, unitary andgenerally triangular, with a flat base along one side, for mountingpurposes. The general plane of the triangle is substantiallyperpendicular to that of the base, so that a braced suspension isavailable for a ski hook at or near the outwardly extended limit. Thehook is horizontally offset from the generally vertical plane of thetriangle and has a free end extending toward but short of the plane ofthe base.

In the preferred form shown, the hook or bracket structure 10 comprisesessentially a single piece of heavy stiff wire bent to define theski-hook end 16 and the ski-pole end 17, as well as the triangular andmounting elements.

This single wire may thus include a generally central upright mountingportion 20 forming one leg of the triangle and shown secured, as bywelding 21 to a base plate 22 having apertures for screw-mounting at 23to the wall panel 11.

The ski-hook end 16 may be formed at one end of the Wire as part of anupper arm or leg 24, and the auxiliary hook 17 for poles, parka, etc.may be formed at the other end of the wire, as part of a lower arm orleg 25. Both arms or legs 24-25 extend away from the vertical supportplane of base 22, and they may 'be secured by weldment 26 at theirconvergence. Both hook ends 16 may thus be seen to be connected to theouter projecting end of the support triangle defined by legs 20-24-25.

As will appear from the perspective of FIG. 2, the described structureprovides clearance between the hook end 16 and the support plane of thebase, so that a single ski or a pair of skis may be positioned behindthe hook 16, as approached from the open lateral side of the hook offsetA. Once positioned behind the book 16, the skis 14 are tilted forward(about the fulcrum provided by their heel ends resting on floor member15) until positively located within the offset A, as suggested byphantom outlines 14 in FIG. 3.

The extent of this offset A is preferably in excess of the combinedthickness B of a pair of conventional skis; also, for best retentionagainst misalignment of an inserted pair of skis 14, the offset A should'be at least no greater than one-half the width W of a standard ski. Thefree end of hook 16 projects toward base 20 with a clearance C whichexceeds the width W of a standard ski, and the effective inwardprojection D of hook 16 is preferably between one-half and a full widthW of a standard ski. In its specific presently preferred form, theoffset A is 1% inches, the clearance C is 4 inches and the projection Dis 3 inches.

To prevent marring of skis and other gear retained by my device I preferthat it be coated with suitable protective plastic, suggested bysheathing 28 in FIG. 3. For added protection further plastic caps 29-30are secured to the free ends of the hooks or projections 16-17.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple and novel ski hook meetingthe foregoing objects. There are no moving parts, yet adequate provisionis made for each device 10 to accommodate not only the skis but also thepoles and clothing of each user. The arrangement is such that thelast-needed article, namely, the skis, for any particular customer arereached last, i.e., after clothing has been donned and poles, etc.collected. Moreover, the forward projection of the auxiliary hook 17, inrelation to the retained inclination of skis 14 means that bottoms ofski poles are necessarily kept from'fouling relation with skis, and theusers clothing can be the means whereby hung articles are displayed forready recognition, thus avoiding confusion in relocating ones gear.

While the invention has been described in detail for the preferred formshown, it will be undersood that modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims whichfollow.

I claim:

1. A bracket for removable retention of upright skis or the like in apredetermined position of offset from a Wall or other verticallyextending reference, comprising a single elongated piece of bent stiffwire having a gen erally central mounting portion, a mounting platesecured to said mounting portion for the generally vertical orientationof said central mounting portion, a first arm integral with one end ofsaid piece and including a main stem extending away from said mountingplate at one end of said mounting portion, said first arm being bent atits outer extent to form a generally J-shape with a relatively short armextending back toward but short of said mounting plate and inhorizontally offset relation to said main stem, and a second armintegral with the other end of said piece and including a main stemextending away from said mounting plate at the other end of saidmounting portion, said main stems converging toward each other as theyextend away from said plate, and said main stems being rigidly securedto each other at the location of their convergence, thereby defining arigid vertically oriented triangular bracket support for said relativelyshort arm, the extent of said short arm exceeding said horizontaloffset, and the clearance between said short arm and said mounting plateexceeding the extent of said short arm.

2. The bracket of claim 1, in which said second arm extends beyond thelocation of securement to said first arm, thereby providing a hook forclothes, ski-poles or the like.

3. The bracket of claim 1, in which said one end of said wire is cappedwith a protective plastic or the like tip.

4. The bracket of claim 2, in which each end of said wire is capped witha protective plastic or the like tip.

5. The bracket of claim 1, in which welding secures said stems atconvergence and said mounting portion to said plate.

6. A generally triangular rigid bracket formed from relatively stiffwire, comprising a first elongated leg adapted for mounting generallyvertically against a supporting wall or the like, second and thirdelongated legs extending respectively from the upper and lower ends ofsaid first leg and connected to each other of a convergence locationspaced from said mounting leg, and a fourth leg connected to said secondand third legs near their convergence and comprising a hook horizontallyoffset from the generally vertical plane of said first three legs, saidhook having a free end extending toward but short of the plane of thesupporting wall or the like, the

extent of said free hook end exceeding "said horizontal offset, and theclearance between said free end and the supporting Wall or the likeexceeding the extent of said free hook end.

7. The bracket of claim 6 in which the extent of said horizontal offsetexceeds the combined thickness of a pair of clamped skis at the locationof their support by said bracket.

8. The bracket of claim 7, in which said offset is less than one-halfthe width of one of the skis.

9. The bracket of claim 6, in which the effective extent of said freehook end is greater than one-half the width of a ski at the location ofsupport by said bracket, and in which the clearance between said freehook end and the supporting wall or the like exceeds the width of theski.

10. A rigid ski bracket, comprising a metal triangle with a flat base atone side thereof for mounting against a supporting vertical wall or thelike with the plane of the triangle generally vertical and substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of said base, and a ski-retaining hookrigidly connected to said triangle near the outwardly extending limitthereof, said hook being horizontally offset from the generally verticalplane of said triangle and having a free end extending toward but shortof the plane of said base, the extent of said free hook end exceedingsaid horizontal offset, and the clearance between said free end and thesupporting wall or the like exceeding the extent of the free hook end.

11. A ski-retaining device, comprising a rigid unitary generallytriangular bracket with a flat base along one side thereof for mountingagainst a supporting vertical wall or the like with the plane of thetriangle generally vertical and substantially perpendicular to the planeof said base, and a ski-retaining hook rigidly connected to said bracketnear the outwardly extending limit thereof, said hook being laterallyoffset from said generally vertical plane and having a free endextending toward but short of the plane of said base, the extent of saidfree hook end exceeding said lateral offset, and the clearance betweensaid free end and the supporting wall or the like exceeding the extentof the free hook end.

- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,877,971 3/ 1959 Goldstein248302 2,956,812 10/1960 Lundquist 28011.37 3,277,676 10/1966 Poehlmannet al. 2116C 3,330,573 7/1967 Sieloff 280-1137 FOREIGN PATENTS 198,7519/1938 Switzerland. 411,268 11/1966 Switzerland.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

J FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

